Control mechanism for feed equipment of rectilinear combers



R. GAUVAIN May 25, 1965 CONTROL MECHANISM FOR FEED EQUIPMENT OFRECTILINEAR COMBERS Original Filed Sept. 3, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet lINVENTOR Ease-z GAUVfl/A/ BY M rM ATTORNEYS M y 1965 R. GAUVAIN3,184,799

CONTROL MECHANISM FOR FEED EQUIPMENT OF RECTILINEAR COMBERS OriginalFiled Sept. 3, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 I f a 9 22 25 29 73 2'4 fi I I 26J 28 Q 36 ff 2"? 37 a O go 5 36' vf/H 3% W 6. a2 34 33 INVENTOR BY r/ J/ATTORNEY 8 United States Patent C) 3,184,799 CQNTROL MECHANISM FQR FEEDEQUKPMENT F RECTILINEAR C(BMBERS Roger Gauvain, liuhl, Heat-Rina,France, assignor to Socit Aisacienne tie Constructions Mecaniques,Mulhouse, Haut-Rhin, France, a company of France firiginai applicationSept. 3, 1959, Ser. No. 837,922, new Patent No. 3,974,119, dated Jan.22, 1963. Divided and this application Aug. 28, 1962, Ser. No. 219,831

{Iiaims priority, application France, Sept. 12, 1958, 4 Claims. (6i.19-225) This application is a divisional application of my pendingUnited States application Serial No. 837,922 filed September 3, 1959,now US. Patent No. 3,074,119 and relates to rectilinear combers.

It is an object of the invention to greatly simplify the feed equipmentof rectilinear co-mbers, more particularly with a view to reducing thenumber and complexity of moving parts, friction and the detrimentaleffects of inertia, the invention thus reducing costs and considerablyincreasing efficiency.

It is a further object of the invention to enable the amplitude of thefeed movement to be controlled from outside the machine without anyalteration in the end-0ftravel position of the feed equipment, while thefeed can be stopped completely by a simple zero-setting adjustment ofsaid means without any interruption in the general operation of themachine, including the movement of the nippers.

The invention has for its subject matter a mechanism for controllingfeed equipment of a rectilinear comber.

In a construction according to the invention, the feed equipment isconstituted by a feed rack fitted directly for reciprocatory motion tothe bottom nipper and is controlled by a lever articulated thereto, thefree end of the latter lever being operated in an additional slidewayidentical and parallel with the slideway guiding and determining thepath of the bottom nipper. It will be apparent that the required feedmovement can be provided if relative reciprocation can be producedbetween the two slideways, preferably transversely to the generaldirection thereof.

This feature provides a number of advantages. The feed movement isdetermined in relation to the nippers themselves and not, as inconventional machinery, in dependence upon the general mechanism of themachine. The simple reciprocating movement hereinbefore described isalways enough on its own to control the feed m.

system, however complex the path followed by the nip pers may be. Lackof registration, which was inevitable with the prior art independentmechanisms, is completely obviated. Finally, thet phase of the feedmovement can be controlled and distributed in time by very simple means,for the same have merely to vary the law governing the reciprocationaforesaid. In this respect, according to a special feature of theinvention, the control mechanism hereinbefore described is supplementedby a control device which is readily accessible from outside the machineand by which the amplitude of the said reciprocation can be varied overa predetermined range Without altering the position in space of the endpoint of such movement, such amplitude possibly being reduced right downto zero.

By means of this control device the amount of fibres introduced into themachine at each combing cycle can be varied simply by moving a singlemanualcontrol memher, while the feed can, if required, be stoppedwithout stopping the machine. A wide variety of inspections oradjustments can therefore be performed without the need to withdraw thefibres from the machine.

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In a preferred embodiment, the aforesaid control device consists of aslider movable in a curved slot in one lever of a system comprising arod interconnecting two levers, one of which is rocked by a cam drivenby the general mechanism of the machine, while the other operates alinkage connected to a slide bearing the slideway guiding the controllever for the feed mechanism.

According to another feature of the invention, the curved slot takes theform of an arc of a circle which, when the slotted lever is in theposition corresponding to the end of the feed travel, has its centercoincident With the articulation of the rod to the other lever.

It will therefore be apparent that if the axis of the slider coincideswith the axis of the slotted lever, the oscillation thereof will operateneither the rod nor, therefore, the other lever and the rest of the feedmechanism, with the result that the same is stopped at the end of itstravel. On the other hand, the amplitude of the feed movement increasesas the slider is moved away from said bearing axis, but the stroke limitposition of the transversely reciprocable slideway corresponding to theend-of-travel position of the feed rack does not vary because in thisposition the slider can pass through the Whole slot without causingdisplacement of the other lever.

It should be pointed out that the mechanism for controlling the nippersand the feed equipment according to the invention can be used in anyexisting or even any future rectilinear comber due to the feature of themechanism which is the paths and the timing of the function of thenippers (including its cyclic opening movement) and of the feedequipment can be determined as required by suitably designing theguiding means.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be hereinafterdescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings, given merely byway of example, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a Very diagrammatic illustration of the nippers of arectilinear comber according to the invention in various phases of theiroperation with rear guiding by means of slideways,

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic view showing how a feed rack is arranged on thebottom nipper,

FIG. 3 is a simple device for controlling the feed rack illustrated inFIG. 2, and

FIG. 4 is another form of actuating mechanism as may be employed tooperate the feed rack.

Referring to FIG. 1, in the control mechanism according to the inventionthe top nipper 1 and bottom nipper 2 of a rectilinear comber aresuspended by their articulation axis 3 on a rocking arm or suspensionrod so that the weight of the nippers is substantially in equilibrium onsaid axis. In the embodiments illustrated, the nippers are suspended atthe bottom end of a rocking arm diagrammatically represented at 4, andof which there can'be seen at 5 the axis of suspension on the machineframework.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the rearward end of the top nipper isprovided with a roller 6 guided in a curved slideway 7. Similarly, therearward end of the bottom nipper is provided with a roller 8 guided ina slideway 9 which is also stationary during most of the nippers travelbut which rises slightly at the end of said travel to compress thespring 10 to press the nippers closed.

In FIG. 1, it will be seen that the rollers 6 and 8 appear to coincidein position ill, but this appearance is purely fortuitous. The plane ofthe slideways 9 and '7 are separate from one another, and the front endsthereof are not necessarily in alignment with one another. To assist inthe understanding of the operation of the control mechanism, the arm ofthe top nipper 1 is diagrammatically shown by a straight axis, while thearm of the bottom nipper is shown by a broken line. This particularrepresentation does not limit the invention to any particular nippersdesign.

s eave-o It will further be noted that the axis of the top nipper isillustrated in a heavier line than the axis of the lower nipper. The twoaxes are shown in dotted line for the formation denoted I, and inchain-dotted lines for the formation denoted II. For formation IIIchain-double dotted lines are used, and the same symbols have beenemployed to indicate the three corresponding positions of the axis ofarm 4 and the profiles of the nose ends of the nippers. Some axes havebeen interrupted on either side of the articulation axis 3 forclarifying the drawing, and only the nose ends of the nippers areillustrated.

The combing cylinder 11, on which can be seen needles 12 increasing innumber, is shown in the position correspending to the beginning of thephase of combing of the head end of the tuft. The paths followed by thetop nipper 1 and the bottom nipper 2 have the references 13, 14,respectively, and rearward ends of the paths coincide for closure of thenippers and, in the example illustrated, are concentric with theperiphery of the combing cylinder.

The operation of the nippers and the combing cylinder has already beendisclosed and described in copending application Serial No. 837,922, nowPatent No. 3,074,119 referred to and identified above.

Referring to FIG. 2, the bottom nipper 2 is articulated at 3vto thebottom of a rocking arm 4 suspended on the machine frame at 5. Theroller 8 guides the rear end of the nipper 2 in a slideway 9 which, tosimplify the illustration of the feed equipment control mechanism, isassumed to be stationary although in'practice the slide way could be ofthe spring kind described with reference to FIG. 1.

The feed rack is articulated at 16 to one end of a bent lever 17articulated at 18 to the rearward part of the bottom nipper 2. The freeend of the bent lever 17 bears a roller 19 guided in a slideway 20 whichis always parallel with the slideway 9 but is fitted to a slide member21 guided in a stationary part 22 so that the slideways 20, 9 can bemoved towards or away from one another While always being maintainedparallel with one another.

It will be readily apparent that, with this arrangement, when therocking arm 4 rocks the nipperZ, then, if the slide 21 remainsstationary, the constant separation between the rollers 8, 19 maintainsthe feed rack 15 in the same position relatively to the nipper 2. On theother hand, whatever the position of the nipper 2 the separation betweenthe rollers 19 and 8 can be reduced, and the feed rack 15 can thereforebe moved towards the nose end of the nipper 2 by moving the slide 21 inthe direction associated with movement of the slideway 20 towards theslideway 9.

It willbe apparent that the feed rack 15 can be controlled by a simpletranslational movement of the slide 21, however complex the path of thenipper 2 may be, since the fact that the slideways 20, 9 are parallelwith one another means that the relative position between the feed rack15 and the nipper 2 is independent of the path thereof.

FIG. 3 illustrates a particular embodiment of the feed rack controlmechanism which provides a control, possibly to the extent of completecancellation, of the amplitudeof the advancing movement of the feed rack15 but without any change in the position thereof relatively to the Ynipper 2 at the end of the feeding movement. The parts of FIG. 3 areshown in this end-of-movement position. Only the slideway 20 isillustrated because, in the position shown in FIG. 3, the projections ofthe slideways 20, 9 coincide in the plane of the drawing. Elementscorresponding to the elements shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 have likereferences and will not, be described again.

The slide 21 is operated by a lever 23 pivoted to a stationary part ofthe frame on a pivot 24 and articulated at 25 to a link 26 whichconnects it at 27 to the slide 21. A rod 28 articulated to the lever 23at 29 has at its free end a pin 30 slidable in an arcuate slot 31 in asecond lever 32. The rod 28 also bears a pointer 33, the position ofwhich is shown by a curved scale 34-of the lever 32. The same bears at35 against a stationary part of the frame and bears a roller 36maintained in continuous engagement by a spring 37 with a cam 38 drivenby a shaft 39 connected to the general mechanism of the machine. Thebearing pivot 35 of the lever 32 coincides withthat end of the curvedslot 31 which is farther from the roller 36. In the positionillustrated, which corresponds to the end of the operative movement ofthe feed rack 15, the roller. 36 is at the minimum distance from thespindle of the cam 38. With the device in the position illustrated, thepivot point 29 where the rod 28 is articulated to the lever 23 coincideswith the center of curvature described by the curved slot 31.

If the pointer'33 is now moved to the zero mark on the scale, in whichposition the axis of the pin 30 coincides with the pivot 35 of the lever32, the same, which is rocked by the cam 38 around the pivot 35, willtherefore also be rocked around the axis of the. pin 30 and will notdisplace the rod 28 nor the rest of the mechanism; the feed rack 15 willtherefore remain stationary relatively to the nipper 2 at the end of thefeeding movement.

In other words, rocking of the nipper 2 will not be associated with afeed movement. With this arrangement the machine can operate idlywithoutany need to remove the fibres from it.-

Also, it has been seen that when the cam is in the position shown, thespindle 29 is at the center of the curved slot 31. The pointer 33cantherefore move over the Whole scale 34 without causing any offsetting ofthe feed rack 15 from its end-of-movement position. On the other hand,the farther the pointer 33 is moved from the zero position, the greaterbecomes the length of the lever arm 32 actingon the rod 28.and thereforethe greater becomes the return amplitude of the feed rack 15 at eachrevolution of the cam.

Of course, the cam 38 can be variable or have a more complex profileproviding, inter alia, a counter-feeding phase at each revolution of thecam, without for that reason departing from the scope of theinvention.

In the embodiment shown in FIG.'4 the feed rack 15 is shown mounted tothe modified mechanism in the same manner as the rack is mounted to thesimilar mechanism disclosed in FIGS. 1 through 3.

The mechanism is controlled by a control shaft 68 which is journaled onthe ,machineframe and rotates uniformly. I

The device illustrated inFIG. 4 includes a pendulum 123 whichcorresponds to the pendulum 4 of FIG. 3, with a top comb 121 mounted atthe front end of a bar 122 carried near the said front end by saidpendulum, which is articulatedona fixed pivot 124 by one arm 12511 of abell-crank lever 125. The bell crank 125 corresponds to the similar bellcrank 17 "of FIG. 3 and acts to operate the feed rack 15'pivotallymounted at the forward end 16 in the same manner as the feedrack 15 mounted to pivot 16, as illustrated in FIG. 3.

The other arm 12517 of the said bell crank lever is articulated at 1250to a link 126a articulated at 127 on the free end of another bell cranklever 128,,128a having its apex,

freely rotatable around shaft 93. The arm 128a of this lever is linkedat its free end through a connecting rod 132 to another lever 133 keyedon a shaft journaled in the machine frame and which, in the exampleshow, is constituted by the shaft 96 controllingthe feed rack.

The shaft 96' is actuated by a cam 99 keyed on shaft 68 through thelever 95, as shown in dot-dash lines in FIG. 4.

Whenever the control shaft 68 rotates by one turn, the cam 99 keyed onsaid shaft oscillates the lever first in one direction and then in theother which causes, through the other parts of the above-describedmechanism, a corresponding to and fro motion of the bar 122 carrying thecomb 121. and operative movement of the feed rack 15 in a similar mannerto the mechanism of FIG. 3.

While the invention has been described with reference to a preferredembodiment, it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention tothe embodiment illustrated, nor otherwise than the terms of thesubjoined claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A control device for a rectilinear comber having a combing cylinder,comprising a suspension rod having upper and lower ends, means pivotallysecuring the upper end of said rod to a fixed point above the axis ofthe cylinder, upper and lower nippers, each nipper having a nose end anda rear end, a feed rack slidably mounted on said lower nipper, said feedrack having forward and rearward end portions, said nippers and feedrack being mounted for free oscillation on the lower end of saidsuspension rod around an axis on either side of which their own weightis equally distributed, a bell-crank lever having one arm articulated atthe rearward end portion of said feed rack, slideways for separatelyguiding without any sliding friction the rear ends of said nippers sothat whenever the suspension rod is oscillated about said fixed pointthe nose ends of said nippers are caused to follow predeterminedreciprocating paths including a common terminal portion to cause cyclicclosing and opening of said nose ends of said nippers, as well as apredetermined cyclic relative motion between the nose ends of thenippers when closed and said combing cylinder, a slideway parallel tothe lower nipper guiding slideway, means for guiding the other arm ofsaid bell crank lever in said slideway parallel to the lower nipperguiding slideway, and means to create relative translationaldisplacement between said parallel slideways to cause feed andwithdrawal reciprocation of said feed rack with respect to said lowernipper.

2. A control device according to claim 1, wherein said last named meansincludes a reciprocating slide member, said guiding parallel slidewaybeing mounted on said reciprocating slide member with said lower nipperguiding slideway being normally stationary.

3. A control device according to claim 2, wherein said last named meansfurther comprises means to adjust the stroke length of said slide memberwithout varying the upper limit of said stroke length which upper limitcorresponds to the end of the feeding stroke of the feed rack with saidadjusting means being adapted to stop the slide member motion while themeans to create relative translar tional displacement further work.

4. A control device according to claim 3, wherein the said adjustingmeans includes a first lever, a connecting rod linked to said firstlever at a point adjustable along an arc of a circle passing through thepivot of said lever, a second lever, link means between the second leverand the slide member and means articulating said rod to said secondlever with said articulating point coinciding with the center of saidare when the slide member is in its terminal position corresponding tothe end of the feeding stroke of the feed rack.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,668,498 5/28Gegauif 19--225 DONALD W. PARKER, Primary Examiner.

1. A CONTROL DEVICE FOR A RECTILINEAR COMBER HAVING A COMBING CYLINDER,COMPRISING A SUSPENSION ROD HAVING UPPER AND LOWER ENDS, MEANS PIVOTALLYSECURING THE UPPER END OF SAID ROD TO A FIXED POINT ABOVE THE AXIS OFTHE CYLINDER, UPPER AND LOWER NIPPERS, EACH NIPPER HAVING A NOSE END ANDA REAR END, A FEED RACK SLIDABLY MOUNTED ON SAID LOWER NIPPER, SAID FEEDRACK HAVING FORWARD AND REARWARD END PORTIONS, SAID NIPPERS AND FEEDRACK BEING MOUNTED FOR FREE OSCILLATION OF THE LOWER END OF SAIDSUSPENSION ROD AROUND AN AXIS ON EITHER SIDE OF WHICH THEIR OWN WEIGHTIS EQUALLY DISTRIBUTED, A BELL-CRANK LEVER HAVING ONE ARM ARTICULATED ATTHE REARWARD END PORTION OF SAID FEED RACK, SLIDEWAYS FOR SEPARATELYGUIDING WITHOUT ANY SLIDING FRICTION THE REAR ENDS OF SAID NIPPERS SOTHAT WHENEVER THE SUSPENSION ROD IS OSCILLATED ABOUT SAID FIXED POINTTHE NOSE ENDS OF SAID NIPPERS ARE CAUSED TO FOLLOW PREDETERMINEDRECIPROCATING PATHS INCLUDING A COMMON TERMINAL PORTION TO CAUSE CYCLICCLOSING AND OPENING OF SAID NOSE ENDS TO SAID NIPPERS, AS WELL AS APREDETERMINED CYCLIC RELATIVE